Stratification of stakeholders for participation in the governance of coastal social-ecological systems

Knowledge co-production has become part of an evolution of participatory and transdisciplinary research approaches that are increasingly important for achieving sustainability. To effectively involve the most appropriate stakeholders there is a need for engagement and increasing prominence of stakeholders in environmental management and governance processes. The paper aims at developing and testing a methodology for stratifying stakeholders by (i) classifying organisations involved in coastal and ocean governance by their agency, and (ii) grouping them into organisational archetypes for representation and selection in research processes. Agency was measured by the three dimensions of scale, resources, and power. Each dimension was further elaborated as a set of indicators. The methodology is applied in the context of a research project set in Algoa Bay, South Africa. The stratification of organisations enabled the research team to gain a better understanding of the stakeholder landscape of organisational agency, and thus identify the most relevant stakeholder with which to engage. The use of a hierarchical cluster analysis identified five organisational archetypes in relation to ocean and coastal governance in Algoa Bay. The methodology used in this study proposes an informed and intentional approach to create the conditions under which the co-production of and participation in research processes can take place. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-023-01844-1.


Supplementary
The institution often exercises its authority and status to harness public opinion to achieve its goals in Algoa Bay or parts thereof Low 1 The institution sometimes exercises its authority and status to harness public opinion to achieve its goals in Algoa Bay or parts thereof None 0 The institution never exercises its authority and status to harness public opinion to achieve its goals in Algoa Bay or parts thereof P5 Enforcement role (level at which an institution can effect the compliance with legal and management instruments).
Prosecute/monitor/arrest/summons 2 The institution is directly involved with monitoring, fines, summons, arrests, prosecutions in court of law Official reporting (as part of workflow) 1 The institution can cause a permit to be withdrawn None 0 The institution has no enforcement role Supplementary The institution has many staff with high skill and knowledge to implement actions in Algoa Bay or parts thereof Adequate capacity for action in Algoa Bay 2 The institution has many staff and low skill and knowledge or few staff but with high skill and knowledge to implement actions in Algoa Bay or parts thereof Limited capacity for action in Algoa Bay 1 The institution has a few staff and low skill and knowledge to implement actions in Algoa Bay or parts thereof No capacity for action 0 The institution has low numbers of staff and no skill and knowledge to implement actions in Algoa Bay or parts thereof R2 Financial-Funding dedicated to achieving management objectives or initiatives linked to ABM in Algoa Bay. The ability of institutions to convert financial resources to actions, activities, and projects to the benefit of achieving (societal) management objectives.
Large or substantial ability to commit financial resources 2 Substantial funding to dedicate to projects, initiatives, activities to achieve management objectives of ABMs, most often by public sector, NGOs etc, but excluding for commercial or financial gain in the complete or large parts of the Algoa Bay. This excludes operational funding, e.g., salaries and other overhead costs except where those are dedicated to Algoa Bay.
Limited or low ability to commit financial resources 1 Limited or no funding to dedicate to projects, initiatives, activities to achieve management objectives of Algoa Bay, most often by public sector, NGOs (shark conservancy for beach clean-up can commit time and effort but not huge financial resources), but excluding for commercial or financial gain in the complete or large parts of the Algoa Bay. This excludes operational funding, e.g., salaries and other overhead costs except where those are dedicated to Algoa Bay. Funding committed are minor Funding committed for self/shareholder-interest for profit. 0 Funding committed/ dedicated to projects, initiatives, activities to achieve management or financial objectives of ABMs primarily for commercial or financial gain in smaller parts of the Algoa Bay. Benefit is mainly for self or shareholders

R3
Infrastructure and material goods-Conversion of financial and human resources to support institutional objectives or initiatives in the Algoa Bay.

Good 2
The institution has a good infrastructure with which to contribute to implementation of objectives in Algoa Bay or parts thereof. The infrastructure is in service of Algoa Bay objectives. Offices, laboratories, specialized vehicles, specialized monitoring.

Limited 1
The institution has a limited infrastructure with which to contribute to implementation of objectives in Algoa Bay or parts thereof. Mainly focusing on business or commercial or membership objectives with infrastructure for that purpose. Mainly formal offices with some specialized equipment mainly for own purposes None 0 The institution has no infrastructure with which to contribute to implementation of objectives in Algoa Bay or parts thereof. No local offices, or any material goods in the Algoa Bay.